Power Plants

Messalonskee Middle School, Kennebec County
An exemplar of scientific inquiry

“So we kind of led them to [the floating islands], but they really took ownership of the idea and drew up models of what the floating islands could look like.”

AMANDA RIPA, 7th and 8th grade science teacher

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Over several years, Amanda Ripa, the seventh and eighth grade science teacher facilitating this research, used students’ questions and their curiosity to develop floating islands of plants that filter pondwater and reduce polluting nutrients. Students lead every aspect of this project, including designing the floating islands and choosing plants with the best water filtering qualities.

Ripa then guided her students to their own concept of the floating islands as a filtration system. The students created models of floating islands and explained their research and design in a written assessment. Ripa used her students’ work to apply for several grants and was able to win $2000 from the Maine STEM Education Innovation Challenge at the Maine STEM Summit to fund two floating islands.

The second year, Ripa wanted her students to take the floating islands to the next level. She used a systems approach for the curriculum and students were asked how they could make an impact on local lakes and share benefits with the community by using their data and experience from the pond. “To incentivize that, I had them apply to the Lexus EcoChallenge with their project ideas, which would give them $500.” None of her students won the prize, but they all learned the process of applying for grants, creating a presentation, and following a template and rubric.

This year, students focused more on the community aspect and the partnership with the 7 Lakes Alliance. Students became resident experts on reducing nutrient pollution and methods of maintaining healthy water quality. They presented the idea of having camps around the lakes create their own islands, as well as expanding the scope to erosion control plantings and lawn care for properties abutting the lakes. Over time, the project has developed and expanded, continually building off the work of past years and taking advantage of the interests of current students. Ripa said, “By the end of the year, the students realized everything connected. And I didn’t really plan it that way, it’s just nice when things kind of organically come up and the kids get that experience and they get to see it as coming from their work and their input into the community.”

BENEFITS

The strengths of this program lie in the experiential aspects that are firmly rooted in the science curriculum and opportunities to connect to the local community. Although there are many lakes local to Messalonskee Middle School, not all students have the opportunity to visit them. Partnering with the 7 Lakes Alliance allowed the students to explore these local resources, learn from local experts on water quality testing, use scientific equipment, and simply be and learn outside while also contributing to the betterment of their community.

Technology integrator Kim Fish noted that Ripa’s students become visibly engaged and excited when working on the projects. The collaboration between students reflects the engagement and the skills being developed: “So when they’re sitting in groups, just the conversations that they’re having about the material and how it might interact with the environment…It’s awesome.”

SUPPORT & PARTNERSHIPS

The Power Plants project had two main community partners: the 7 Lakes Alliance and the Salmon Lake Association. The 7 Lakes partnership began with water quality testing. An educator visited Ripa’s classes once a month and they would co-write lesson plans together. The 7 Lakes Alliance has also helped with bringing the students out on boats to conduct water quality tests and learn about using scientific equipment as well as coordinating transportation to the site which is one of the largest barriers for field trips. Beyond their one budgeted field trip per team, teachers have to do their own fundraising or find alternative funding for field trips. Teachers are also required to plan field trips a year in advance, which limits flexibility.

The Salmon Lake Association partnership began with students presenting to the Association in the fall as part of their assessment. Later, the organization reached out and asked if students would be interested in implementing several of the measures they had recommended, including erosion control mulch and other plantings along the shore of the lakes. This partnership allowed students to be part of community efforts of erosion control and ameliorating lake water quality.

LESSONS LEARNED & NEXT STEPS